Team Stats

Passing Yards

Rushing Yards

Turnovers

Time of Poss.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Currently ranked first in the Ohio Valley
Conference in total offense and second in total defense, Tennessee
Tech hopes to improve its record to 2-0 Thursday night when it
hosts North Greenville University in Tucker Stadium. It would mark
the first time the Golden Eagles open the year with two wins since
the 1989 season, and only the third time in 32 years (others were
1980 and 1982).

North Greenville (0-1), comes to town following a 24-12 loss at
Albany State last Saturday. Thursday’s game is the first Tech
meeting with the Crusaders, who advanced last year all the way to
the semifinals of NCAA Division II and finished with an 11-3
overall record.

Thursday’s game is both Youth Football Night and Take A Kid
To The Game Night. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., and the Magic 98.5
Tailgate Park opens at 4 p.m.

The Golden Eagles (1-0) have received votes in all three national
FCS polls, placing them 29th, 32nd and 35th.

The Golden Eagles are paced on offense by quarterback Tre Lamb,
tailback Adam Urbano and several receivers, and on defense by
senior Howard Griffin and junior Marty Jones. Tech’s offense
piled up 548 yards against Hampton, and the “Fastest 60
Minutes in Football” allowed Tech to run 82 plays compared
with 59 plays (for 192 yards) by the Pirates.

The Crusader defense held Albany State to 250 total yards,
including just 79 yards through the air. Junior defensive back
Brandon Aldridge shined in his first career start with eight total
tackles. Junior linebacker Braelen Meredith filled up the stat
sheet, finishing the game with four total tackles, three tackles
for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles

The Crusader offense struggled to find momentum with just 165 yards
of total offense on 69 plays. In his first career start, freshman
quarterback Nelson Hughes was 16-for-28 for 105 yards and one
interception. After Hughes was knocked out of the game because of a
big hit from the ASU defense, sophomore quarterback Joey Carter
played the final few series to finish 4-for-10 for 23 yards and one
interception.

GAME NOTES: Thursday night marks the first-ever
meeting between Tennessee Tech and North Greenville. It marks the
second-straight week that TTU will be playing on a Thursday night.
With a victory Tennessee Tech can open the season 2-0 for the first
time since the 1989 season.
SCOUTING NORTH GREENVILLE: North Greenville, located in
the state of South Carolina, is a NCAA Division II program that
started its football team in the 1992 season. The Crusaders were
11-3 a year ago and lost 28-23 to No. 1 seed Delta State in the
NCAA Division II Playoff quarterfinals. Following the season head
coach Jamey Chadwell moved on to a head coaching job at Delta State
and Carroll McCray took over at North Greenville. McCray served as
head coach at Austin Peay from 2003-06 and was most recently at
Mercer (2011) and Furman (2007-10). In week one of the season the
Crusaders dropped a 24-12 decision at Albany State, a game that was
a first round playoff rematch from 2011. Nelson Hughes completed
15-of-27 passes for 104 yards while NGU's rushing attack gained 75
yards on the ground.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: Tennessee Tech improved
to 6-0 in home openers under head coach Watson Brown by topping
Hampton (a team that was 7-4 last year) 41-31 last Thursday night.
The high octane Tech offense ran 82 total plays and netted 548
yards of total offense, the second most in Brown's tenure with the
Golden Eagles. The TTU defense was also stout, holding Hampton to
just 192 yards on the night. Senior quarterback Tre Lamb passed
for 339 yards and four touchdowns, as he completed 24-of-35 passes
with no interceptions. The 339 yards was the second-highest total
of Lamb's career. Running back Adam Urbano
carried the ball 25 times for a career-high 158 yards (6.3
yards/game) and a touchdown. After sitting out last season Tremaine Hudson
returned to the field on Thursday night and tied his career-high
with eight receptions for 62 yards. Junior newcomer Da'Rick Rogers,
who transferred from Tennessee just days before the Hampton
contest, saw limited action but still managed to haul in three
passes for 75 yards and a touchdown. For his efforts Rogers was
named OVC Co-Newcomer of the Week. Defensively Marty Jones
returned from missing all of last season to lead the team with 13
tackles while Howard
Griffin added 12 tackles.